Peter Gethin

Name: Peter Gethin

Nationality: Great Britain

Date of birth: February 21, 1940 - Epsom, Surrey

Popular and chirpy pint-sized son of successful jockey Ken Gethin, Peter's great moment came in the 1971 Italian Grand Prix at Monza when he forced his BRM P160 into the lead at the last corner, winning the race by one-hundredth of a second at an average speed of 151.634mph. Not only was it the smallest margin of victory recorded up to then in Formula 1 history, but this success was also achieved at a record average. Gethin started in junior league British Formula 3 and won the first British Formula 5000 title in 1969 in a McLaren M10B. He gained promotion to Formula 1 with the McLaren team the following year in the aftermath of Bruce McLaren's sad death, making a midseason switch to BRM in the summer of 1971. Gethin then stayed with BRM trough to the end of 1972 after which his Formula career petered to a halt, with only a couple of guest drivers in 1973 (BRM in Canada) and 1974 (Embassy Hill at Brands Hatch) remaining. He later became involved in driver management, first with Formula 2 March driver Beppe Gabbiani and later for the Formula 1 Toleman team in 1984. He now runs a corporate high performance driving school at the Goodwood circuit near Chichester.

BACKhome <---------------------------------